


39 Degrees, Too Hot For The Bees

by kiraisstillhere



Series: AFTG Summer 2020 [1]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: AFTG Summer 2020, Fluff, Post-Canon, Summer, aftg summer, andrew is sappy but only for neil josten, hot day, this is just soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25697356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiraisstillhere/pseuds/kiraisstillhere
Summary: Andrew and Neil suffer through a hot day and broken air conditioning by taking a nap (or two).
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Series: AFTG Summer 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863595
Comments: 4
Kudos: 110
Collections: AFTG Summer 2020





	39 Degrees, Too Hot For The Bees

**Author's Note:**

> for AFTG Summer 2020! August 3rd/Day One: Hot Day
> 
> i had a lot of fun writing this, and thank you so, so much to [andre](https://twitter.com/chbvnny/) for organizing this!!
> 
> there's a prompt a day from august 3rd-16th, so these will be shorter, but hopefully fun overall!!
> 
> title is from [ice cream](https://open.spotify.com/track/3vdRzkqnwlFk8hsz70IKmx?si=bH41EZvbQNWn1hvgZ6DS6w) by MIKA (39 C = 102 F)

“It’s fucking hot,” Neil groaned. He was laying shirtless on the floor of the dorm, head resting on a pillow he’d dragged away from the bed when the blankets got to be too much. His wet hair was soaking a spot into the linen pillowcase, and he looked absolutely miserable.

“Thanks for your stellar observation, Neil. You’re very perceptive,” Andrew said, emphasizing the sarcasm more than he normally would.

Andrew himself was starfished on the floor next to Neil, arms and legs splayed out as he glared at the white ceiling. It  _ was _ fucking hot, but he didn’t need the reminder.

The heating system in Fox Tower had gone out, and the housing staff said that they couldn’t get anyone to come in and fix it until the following Monday. It was almost enough to prompt a move back to Abby’s house for the weekend, just to get air conditioning, if anything. But Abby was the queen of putting people to work in exchange for her good graces, and a sink full of dishes that needed to be scrubbed was enough to nip that thought in the bud.

So. Shirtless in the sweltering South Carolina heat was the only option.

Well, it wasn’t the only option, but Andrew thought it was better than laying in the pool while Neil hovered over him with sunscreen. While he’d never admit it, Andrew was just a little jealous that Neil had gotten his mother’s darker complexion. An asshole move on Neil’s part, really. Andrew was tired of the repeated applications of sunscreen. 

Just because  _ Aaron _ never got burnt, thanks to not one, but  _ three _ significant others fawning over him didn’t mean Neil had to do the same.

And since Andrew was vehemently against Neil being weird and caring, the two of them bid goodbye to his idiot brother and all the people that Aaron seemed to magnetize to him, and decided to try and keep cool in the dorm.

Having the space to themselves should have been an opportunity. Everyone knew that you didn’t take an empty dorm room for granted, but the last thing they needed was being sweatier. The two them had taken separate cold showers, attempting to stave off the heat for as long as possible.

And here they were now, laying on the decidedly cold floor, backs sticking uncomfortably to the wood, while they stared up at the ceiling in silence. 

“You know what I think?” Neil asked, irritation evident in his tone.

“You don’t, but go on,” Andrew cut in quickly. Even through his misery, he couldn’t resist throwing a one-liner in. He could imagine the way Neil was squinting his eyes, the way he did when he was scrutinizing something that he couldn’t think of the proper response to.

Sometimes, Andrew wondered if Neil was trying to figure out whether or not  _ Neil _ knew he could have emotional responses to things.

After a beat, Neil finished his thought. “I think that this sucks and that we should just go to the pool with the Fantastic Four.”

There were many things in the world that Andrew did not want to do, and right now? Going to the pool was at the top of the list. It wasn’t jealousy - Andrew had Neil, and he didn’t need or want anyone else. The pool was simply not appealing, and Neil could say what he wanted all day long. Andrew didn’t want to go.

He didn’t answer Neil. There was nothing to say. His junkie might want to hear more, but Andrew was a man of few words as it was. Neil wouldn’t pry.

If only the air conditioning fucking worked. The fact that no one could come for the weekend was bullshit. The building was mind-meltingly hot, and only made worse by the early afternoon sun streaming in through the window. It should be a crime, Andrew thought passively, to put a window where the sun couldn’t be blocked. The architects hadn’t even had the decency to put up an awning. The worst part was the fact that they had to have the window open in the first place, “for circulation” according to Neil. Even pulling the shade down would result in the heat being trapped inside.

Their place on the floor was the best spot, strategically picked so that they’d stay out of the way of the sun while also avoiding anything that could capture body heat, save for the pillows they were resting on. Neil made a  _ hmph  _ and muttered something about Andrew being difficult.

“You knew what you were getting into when you pocketed my key, Neil,” Andrew said, making an effort to ingrain this moment into his memory.

“Yeah, I did. That’s why I took it, dumbass.”

Andrew almost smiled.

A few more moments passed, the two of them quiet as they listened to each other’s breathing. It was nice, Andrew supposed, to lay and listen. To close his eyes and simply exist with the man he’d decided was “the one”, as Nicky would say. Being close to Neil was a luxury that Andrew was slowly learning to accept as his own.

Andrew wouldn’t have been able to tell when his eyelids grew heavy, nor would he have been able to tell when his eyes closed completely, and he certainly couldn’t tell when he and Neil had fallen asleep, but it was a rather blessed break from the boiling heat around them. 

The slightest nudge against his pinky pulled Andrew away from his thoughts slowly, opening his eyes languidly to the stillness that had fallen in the dorm’s living room. In the past, Andrew would have bolted to a panic attack at the realization of the wide open space, but he could still hear steady breathing to his left, and let his guard calm down.

“Drew?” Neil mumbled, his voice soft and scratchy from sleep.

“Hmm?” Andrew replied in lieu of a real answer.

“Can I touch?” Neil asked.

Andrew slowly turned his head to look at the redhead, with his bright blue eyes looking at Andrew through long lashes. He was breathtaking, and Andrew couldn’t believe that he’d been allowed to be close to such a thing of beauty. Of course, he’d never tell Neil that - it wasn’t like him to be in awe out loud. Maybe one day though, he would find the words.

“Yes.”

Maybe he already had the only word he needed.

He watched a stupid smile spread across Neil’s face, like Andrew had just given him the key to the world, and looked back to the ceiling as he felt Neil’s pinky link with his own.

“‘S too hot to hold hands,” Neil muttered disappointedly. “This will have to do.”

Andrew huffed out a breath, giving a curt nod with it. The damp fabric of the pillow beneath his head had gotten warm while they were asleep, no longer the welcome cool down that it had been when he’d first laid down. It was a gross feeling, hot on his skin, and he could feel hair sticking to the nape of his neck. Maybe another cold shower would fix the problem.

“Don’t act like this is a soul-crushing moment when your life depends on your continued job as an exy player.” Honestly, Neil could be so dramatic sometimes.

But Andrew liked that  _ he _ was the reason that Neil was so dramatic. Even if it was just about holding hands.

They both settled again, as comfortable as they could get with the dust on the floor and the uneven ridges digging into their backs. Andrew didn’t want to get up until the sun had set and he could comfortably get up without feeling like he was peeling his back away from the wood, but he had a feeling that luck was not going to be on his side when the time came to do so.

Neil’s breathing slowed again, out like a light in moments. He’d always been quick to sleep, like he was trying to get as much as he could in between the stretches of being awake that he’d had to endure. There was something admirable about the disregard that Neil had for wherever he was when he was tired enough. Andrew had seen the striker fall asleep in the team room, in classes, and, on one occasion, at the table at Eden’s, prompting Roland to open up the employee room so that Neil didn’t look shitfaced and put a bad name on the club.

Andrew felt his own breath evening out, relaxing against the flooring once again. He ignored the fabric behind his head and the way that the birds outside sounded like they were just as tired as he was. The smell of too-hot asphalt wafted through the room as the barest whisper of a breeze started outside. In the safety of the dorm, with Neil by his side, Andrew let a small smile grace his face.

Never before had Andrew dozed off so peacefully, let alone twice in one day. He slept better with Neil by his side.

The loud jingling of keys and plastic against the sensor on the wall outside, followed by the mechanical click of the dorm room door unlocking itself jolted Andrew from his nap. His eyes snapped open, his whole body bristling with the adrenaline to jump up, to fight, to  _ protect _ from anyone barging into the room.

Instead, his eyes landed on Kevin shoving the door open with his hip, holding a few grocery bags and swearing to himself. The door swung shut behind him, slamming loudly in its frame, and Neil groaned next to Andrew, blinking himself awake.

Andrew wished that he could sleep through noise as well as the rabbit could.

Kevin furrowed his brow in confusion at the sight of Andrew and Neil. For a moment, Andrew forgot that they were both wearing gym shorts and their arm bands, and nothing else. “Why are you on the floor?”

“It’s hot, Day,” Andrew said, breathing as he felt the burst of energy drain from his muscles.

Kevin shrugged before he walked to the kitchen and set the groceries on the counter to start unpacking them. “I got you two ice cream. Caramel cone and some sorbet thing Neil seemed to like.”

Neil blew air through his nose in mock frustration. “Why don’t you ever  _ ask _ me things?” If he hadn’t been comfortably positioned as is, Andrew was certain that Neil would be crossing his arms.

“Because you don’t answer your phone,” Kevin said matter-of-factly, putting said ice cream in the freezer. “Thea and I are going out, I won’t be back until late. Just wanted to make sure you two weren’t going to die of starvation.”

He finished putting the groceries away and tucked all of the bags into a drawer to use later, then grabbed his phone from the counter and, presumably, checked for a message from Thea. Andrew saw the slight smile that crossed Kevin’s cheeks before he put his phone in his back pocket.

Kevin slipped his keys back into his other pocket and left without another word, the heavy door once again swinging shut, and the dorm fell quiet once again.

Andrew felt a bit like he was floating. Maybe it was the heat, or the fact that they hadn’t even thought to grab water before laying down. Maybe it was because Andrew finally had the moment of peace he’d been waiting for all these years, and that moment had its pinky wound around his own, but the lazy days of summer seemed to make more sense now, with their claims of contentment and calm.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm writing these as i go, i hope to get one for almost every day!
> 
> come yell with me about aftg on [twitter](https://twitter.com/cybbetta) and [tumblr](https://www.alvarezforthegame.tumblr.com)


End file.
